Event

Gastronomy Cooking Event Recipes

Ottoman Rice with Figs, currants and pine nuts wrapped in Filo Dough

Ingredients:
• 2 cups of rice
• 4 cups of water
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
• 2 tablespoon pine nuts
• 2 tablespoon currants or raisins
• 2 tablespoons of chopped figs
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Sautee pine nuts in butter until brown, about 30 seconds. Add olive oil, currants, chopped figs, and cinnamon. Add rice, salt/pepper and sautee for another minute. Add water. Simmer in low heat, until rice is cooked.

Butter a rounded Pyrex bowl and layer the bottom and sides of the Pyrex bowl with phyllo dough. Make sure to have enough hanging from the sides in order to package the rice. Fill Pyrex bowl with rice and cover the top with the phyllo dough. Butter top lightly and stick in the over for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Take out, cool and flip over to a serving dish.

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Tray Baked Kebab, Antakya Style
Ingredients:
• 1 onion
• 2 Bell Peppers, or mild Serrano, Anaheim, Pablano or Banana Peppers (1 to mince, and 1 to cut in slices to top the kebab)
• 1 Red Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Parsley (1/2 of bunch)
• 1 tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tspand 2 tsp cumin
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 tbsp tomato paste mixed in 1 cup of water
• 2 Tomatoes, cut into quarters

Directions:
Mince the vegetables until fine. Add the ground beef and seasoning. Mix well for about 5 minutes, until the meat and the vegetables are combined. In a flat baking pan, using your hands, evenly lay the meat. Evenly pour the tomato paste on top of the meat. Place the peppers and tomatoes on top. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.

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Eggplant sautéed in olive oil – Imam bayildi

Ingredients:
• 3-4 Baby Eggplant
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium size onions, slice into thin strips
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 peeled and diced tomatoes (or 1 can of the same)
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Parsley 1/4 cup chopped
• Salt to taste

Directions:
Peel off strips of the eggplant skin at 1-inch intervals to make a stripped effect and cut/slit each eggplant in half lengthwise. Salt the eggplant and set aside for about 15 minutes. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat and fry the eggplant, until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel. In the same skillet add more oil and cook the garlic and onions until soft and glazed. Stir regularly. Mix in the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, salt to taste for one minute and remove from heat. Arrange the eggplant halves in a pyrex dish with the slit side up. Fill the eggplant with the onions, garlic, tomato and parsley mixture. Drizzle the lemon juice over the eggplant as well as the remaining oil and water. Cover with foil and bake for about 50 minutes.

Serve at room temperature or cold. Can be prepared a day ahead.